I Need Advice on Political Discussion in the Workplace

I'm in a quandary. My workmate in the adjoining cubicle recognizes that I have strong political views, which are punctuated by deep contempt for the Bush administration and its allies. He is a self-described centrist who is no fan of Bush, but holds some conservative views. He and other cube neighbors--again, no supporters of Bush-- have discovered one of my vulnerabilities: I am easily baited into rants against the Bush administration--not screaming tantrums, just expressions of disgust and anger.

I am feeling increasingly isolated as articulation of my political views has become something to be provoked for fun and amusement. I am not without a sense of humor--especially the gallows humor that is so necessary in the Bush II era--but I'm frustrated that what I believe to be justified anger is seen by my intelligent, informed, and, for the most part, liberal workmates as somehow unreasonable or funny.

What to do? Should I just keep politics out of the workplace? It's pretty damn hard, given that we are in the midst of a national--indeed global--crisis.

Save it for lunch, coffee breaks, and all your free time. This is the approach I use. I still find plenty of right-wingers and moronic "centrists" to bother outside work.

and ask them not to do so, too.

I've worked in situations where we talked politics constantly, and places where it just didn't work out. It didn't matter whether people agreed or disagreed with me - it was about whether everybody involved could take a political discussion without getting personally, emotionally invested. That's a no-no for a workplace conversation.

Sounds like the conditions aren't right there, so pass on it.

Good advice.

If you want to stay employed and in relative peace let it go.

The job is not the place...

I appreciate the advice.

so you probably don't want to talk to them much anyway.

I make it a rule to only talk politics at work with Democrats or else Independents who hate Bush. Fortunately, there are quite a few that fall into that category at work, so we get to have some good discussions.

or your judgment on your workmen is faulty. Intelligent, informed and liberal ? And they find the tragedy funny? those are the kind for whom the following formula can be applied

"she makes a living while sleeping and plans for vacations" ( a prostitute that is"

they just need some entertainment


your are wasting your time.

First of all, most of us know more about politics than 99% of the population and we have a tendency to overwhelm the competition with information.

Second of all, try simply asking questions. Say that there are things that confuse you like, "I just can't understand why the entire Bin Laden family was flown out of the States after 9/11 - when none of the rest of us could fly." Then use the "broken record" technique and keep saying how it doesn't make any sense. You don't need to win, just create doubt.

Third of all, limit the issues by sticking to one topic. A lot of us tend to hop around from thought to thought.

I couldn't bear not to be able to talk politics at work, but you may want to either a) stop or b) use a different strategy.

no original thinking allowed in the workplace. always delegate to a higher authority.